Reading Assignment #1

This reading was very informative about something I never knew too much about. It delves into the world of counterfeit or fake websites that give what the article calls, “disinformation” to viewers. Most of them tend to be for comical purposes, while others attempt to be so real that many misconstrue them as authentic websites. The reading even gives one account of a site seeming to be so real that a trade group contacted the site’s creators to see if they would give a presentation on the World Trade Organization. The site sponsors sent a Dr. Bichlbauer who gave the trade group a presentation they were not exactly looking to hear. A serious quarrel ensued and the representative of the site was hit with a pie. This shows the serious effects these so called comical sites can cause. The reading discusses the impact of these sites on the daily news, and how we must be careful to find trustworthy sources. It is vital to look into the creators of websites we view and trust to make sure they are legit and not trying to accomplish their own agenda. This news disinformation stems out past politics and daily routines, stretching even into entertainment where sites give fake endings to movies and phony plot lines. This has enormous implications with the production teams of these shows and movies, as their sales and ratings would go down if many people view sites giving away false information.

After reading this, I have grown aware of a lot of bad things that are out there on the internet. I knew about counterfeit websites, but I had no idea it was this vast and threatening underworld. I think the worst part about all of this is that innocent people that are simply curious about a subject can be so easily misguided by these sites without even knowing what they are viewing is false. I’m sure some of these sites are humorous and I can understand that but I think many of them take it too far. I don’t understand why anyone would want to spend so much time and effort making something that is not even real and try to pass it off as a legitimate source of information. It doesn’t really make any sense to me. I just hope that somehow we can find a way to stop these sites from going up and keep the mass of internet users from seeing them.